JEDDAH, 9 March 2004 — Qaysoummah Street in Jeddah’s Faisaliyah district was a “clean, quiet, respectable and family-oriented street”, until a local company rented a building there, according to residents in the area.
Since then they say Al-Fahhad Establishment has dug up the street and installed three large sewage tanks underground to accommodate the large number of people housed in this small building, originally designed for only six families. In addition, several large buses and a broken-down sewage truck have appeared in front of the neighboring buildings.
“Because there are hundreds of Al-Fahhad Establishment laborers using the toilets in this building, the company has dug up the street without permission and put in several huge sewage tanks. Due to bad workmanship and because of Al-Fahhad parking its large buses and sewage trucks in the street above the sewage tanks, the road has collapsed in places,” neighbors told Arab News.
“There are several large holes in the street up to one meter in diameter and over two meters deep. You can look into the holes in the road and see the sewage and rats. The smell is terrible and fills the whole street. This poses a particular danger to children who can easily fall into these large pits. Sometimes cars fall in, requiring a crane to pull them out. When the tanks are full, sewage runs into the street. Tankers come at all hours of the day and night blocking the entire street in order to empty the tanks,” the neighbors add.
Arab News confirmed the allegations by the neighbors and contacted the building manager, Yasser Moraban.
“We are taking responsibility for the holes in the road and the open sewage tanks,” he told Arab News. “Someone is coming within 24 hours to repair them. The previous building manager left us with a lot of work to do and we are doing it over the next few days. I just took over this building 15 days ago. Give me just 24 hours and the holes will be covered.”
But 24 hours later Arab News found that no work had been done. Moraban said: “I checked with my boss and he told me that the street was the responsibility of the municipality, so our hands are tied. But if you give me until this evening, the bus and broken-down sewage truck will be removed from the front of the building.” Another 24 hours later, the bus and sewage truck, as well as the holes in the street remained.
“We call to complain, and one of two things happens. Either we get empty promises or we get hung up on. Al-Fahhad has no reason to fix the situation because there is no one in a position of authority forcing them to make changes. Where is the municipality, where is the Ministry of Health, where is the Civil Defense, where is the Ministry of Labor, and where is the traffic police? Is there no protection for people like us from irresponsible and inconsiderate companies like this one?” one resident said.
According to Moraban, 240 employees of Al-Fahhad Establishment live in the small building.
“There are 240 Indians, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans living here in the building. But because they work different shifts, there are only 150 people in the building at any given time,” he said.
There are seven apartments, each with four bedrooms. Each bedroom housed between five and nine people. Each apartment housing an average of 40 people has only one bathroom and one kitchen, which are infested with cockroaches. Trash bins containing leftover food are overflowing onto the floor, being stepped on by all who pass, providing a feast for the hundreds of cockroaches that share the bathroom and kitchen with the residents.
According to the Civil Defense, housing such a large number of people in such a small building is dangerous. Last year a small fire broke out there. According to a resident down the block, it was set by angry neighbors.
Arab News was unable to confirm whether the fire, whose effect is still visible on the building, was indeed arson.
An Egyptian man was in the building when the fire broke out.
“We were eating when we heard banging on the door,” he said. “Someone yelled that the building was on fire. It took everyone about 20 minutes to get out of the building. If the fire was actually inside the building, and there was a lot of smoke, I am sure some people would have died.”
One Sri Lankan who lives in the building said: “The conditions here are very bad. Nine people sleep in this room. Six people sleep in that one. We only get paid SR320 per month, so we cannot afford to move out. Even if we could, we wouldn’t be allowed.”
“The conditions these laborers are living under are typical for South Asian laborers working in Saudi Arabia. This is not a problem specific to Al-Fahhad Establishment,” Moraban said.
Another Egyptian resident of the building said it seemed Arabs are more deserving of simple amenities than South Asians.
“If you look at this apartment, which houses only Arab laborers, it is much cleaner and there are only two people per room. I guess the Indians, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans put up with it because they don’t have a choice, or maybe don’t know any better.”
